Donald Trump blasts ‘overrated’ Meryl Streep for Golden Globes speech

Donald Trump said he was "not surprised" by Meryl Streep's criticism during her Golden Globes speech for the Cecil B DeMille Award on Sunday, according to the New York Times.

The president-elect dismissed "liberal movie people" and called the actress "overrated".

"There was one performance this year that stunned me," Streep said somberly from the stage. "It sank its hooks in my heart. Not because it was good - there was nothing good about it - but it was effective, and it did its job." Streep referred to Donald Trump mocking a disabled reporter at a South Carolina campaign rally.

"It made its intended audience laugh and show their teeth," Streep continued. "It was that moment when the person asking to sit in the most respected seat in our country imitated a disabled reporter: someone he outranked in privilege, power and the capacity to fight back. It kind of broke my heart when I saw it, and I still can't get it out of my head because it wasn't a movie - it was real life."

Trump denied poking fun at the reporter. "I was never mocking anyone," he said, arguing the reporter tried to distance himself from an article he wrote in September 2001 about terrorist attacks on World Trade Centre and other locations. "I was calling into question a reporter who had gotten nervous because he had changed his story."

"People keep saying I intended to mock the reporter's disability, as if Meryl Streep and others could read my mind, and I did no such thing," he continued, also noting that Streep was a "Hillary lover" and introduced his opponent at the Democratic National Convention last summer.

Trump also fired back against Streep on Twitter Monday morning, calling her "one of the most overrated actresses in Hollywood" and "a Hillary flunky who lost big". He also lashed out at the "very dishonest media".

Despite the celebrity setback at the Globes, Trump also told the Times he expects to see many Hollywood elite at his January 20 inauguration. "We are going to have an unbelievable, perhaps record-setting turnout for the inauguration, and there will be plenty of movie and entertainment stars," he said. "All the dress shops are sold out in Washington. It's hard to find a great dress for this inauguration."

As of Monday, only the Rockettes, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and 'America's Got Talent' runner-up Jackie Evancho have signed up to perform at Trump's inauguration, with many artists distancing themselves from the event.